It’s such a hot topic among parents with older children. Should allowance be given for completing household chores? Should it be given only as a reward for completing extra jobs around the house, or perhaps for not asking anything in return? Should an allowance be given to children at all?

I do believe that children should be taught how to manage money at an early age, but our children do not receive an allowance for doing their regular daily chores. They do, however, earn money in a variety of ways, not only from us, but also from various family members. Babysitting (a Mother’s Helper, really), washing Dad’s car, organizing cabinets and the pantry, helping with trips to the dump; these are all ways they may make some cash. It’s hard earned and well appreciated.

Here’s what my older kiddos had to say about allowance and earning money for completing extra jobs::

“Why would I get paid to help around the house? I should just do it to help the family.” -Ethan, age 11

“I think we should do our chores and not get an allowance. You pay for our food and clothes, and stuff. We should be able to make money in other ways so we can buy the stuff we want, though.” -Zach, age 11

“I like to do extra things to help you and make money for the stuff you don’t buy me.” -Julia, age 9

Do you give your children an allowance? How is it set up for your family? I’d love to hear about it!

Kidworth is a free online tool designed to teach kids financial goal setting. Wether you give your children an allowance or simply reward them for completing extra tasks, it’s a great idea to set up a Kidworth account. You would set up the account and together you and your kids could enter some goals. Whether they’d like to save up for guitar lessons or a donation to the local animal shelter, Kidworth can help them achieve their dreams.

This post was sponsored by Kidworth. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Well, the malls are crowded, it’s impossible to find a parking spot at Costco, and our bank accounts are slowly being depleted.

Why? Because we let the importance of stuff overshadow what is really important.

I am just as guilty as the next person. It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season. But, perhaps this holiday season you and your family can join us in taking a different approach. Instead of focusing on what each of my kids want to receive for Christmas, we plan to discuss with them the importance of giving over receiving, the joy that comes in sharing with those in need, and how this Christmas season is less about the stuff and more about the celebration of Jesus’ birth.

The holidays are a perfect time to teach the importance of charitable giving. This sacrificial act may show itself in many forms and may look different for each family. Some years we have filled shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, others we have adopted needy families within our community, and yet other times we’ve given our time to bring some cheer to the lonely.

However it looks, sharing with those less fortunate than us can inspire feelings of satisfaction and contentment; pure joy.

Giving back shouldn’t end after this season is over, though. Kidworth – a free tool designed to teach kids financial goal setting – makes meeting goals for giving so easy and worry-free. By choosing a share goal with your children, or in creating your own, you are teaching the value of giving and how important it is to think of others.

In everything I showed you that working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” -Luke (Acts 20:35)

This post was sponsored by Kidworth. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Our children do not receive a regular allowance, but do earn money in a variety of ways. (More on that another time.) In addition to earning money, they are very blessed to be recipients of cash gifts for birthdays and Christmas. As I mentioned the other day, Ray and I have taught them how to shop smart and save more. Although we encourage them to save for the big things, sometimes the kiddos’ urge for that book or pack of gum overtake their will to save, adding to the need to teach them about the valuable financial concepts of creating some financial goals, albeit pretty basic at their age.

We’ve attempted to teach these valuable lessons in a variety of ways. We adopted the envelope system for a time, placing a bit of money in three different envelopes – one for saving, one for spending, and yet another for giving. Then the twins opened “accounts” at The Bank of Mom and Dad, in which they placed all of the money they desired to save, while handling the spending and giving portions themselves. Now the younger kiddos are discovering ways to earn some extra cash and we are beginning to teach them how to properly handle their money.

Teaching these concepts and putting them in to practice at an early age will prepare my kiddos for their future. Did you know kids get an average of $25,000 in gifts and cash from 0-18? Yet most children have a net worth of zero when they leave home. With Christmas just around the corner, it’s time to try a new way to set some financial goals for my kiddos, as I’m sure their school breaks will bring many opportunities to earn some money and gifts will most likely include some amount of cash. We found a great site called Kidworth that is designed to help kids of all ages learn financial goal setting so they can succeed financially. More accurately, it found us!

Kidworth is a free tool designed to teach kids financial goal setting. With the holidays fast approaching it’s a great time to set up a Kidworth account. You would set up the account and together you and your kids could enter some goals. Whether they’d like to save up for guitar lessons or a donation to the local animal shelter, Kidworth can help them achieve their dreams this holiday season, and you won’t have to deal with so much stuff.

We’ve signed up for Kidworth and have given our children the best gift of all – financial responsibility. How about you – How do you teach your kiddos about financial responsibility?

This post was sponsored by Kidworth. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Ray and I have taught our kiddos important money lessons ever since they were old enough to understand the concept of smart spending and saving. With the help of Nextag I decided to take advantage of the holiday shopping season to reinforce these financial lessons and make them more memorable by reminding our kids about the value of shopping smart.

My twins have been asking for a remote controlled helicopter, so we explored Nextag and did some comparison shopping. We were able to see the different models available at a wide variety of online stores.

We even set up an alert, so we would be notified by email of upcoming deals.

Whether you’re shopping for electronics, clothing and accessories, home furnishings or health and beauty essentials, Nextag should be your first stop for shopping online. We were able to use the comparison shopping tools available on Nextag to find several items on our holiday gift lists!

Enlist your kids this holiday season to lend a hand with the gift shopping with these holiday gift-giving tip from Nextag::

Tip #1: Make a budget. Already have a holiday shopping list? Next step is to make a budget and make it a positive experience. By knowing how much money is available to spend, kids can help make decisions on the best thing to buy.

Tip #2: Make a list, check it twice, and then tell your child to do something nice — and find the best price. Let them research compare prices and gifts through online comparison shopping to understand how they can save money on an item or two and then use that saved money to spend on another item.

Tip #3: If you prefer to shop in person, consider an app for your or your child’s phone that can help you shop right. For instance, Nextag Mobile is a free shopping app for the iPhone and Android that offers consumers product pricecomparison, research and shopping toolswith barcode scanning and image recognition technology.

Nextag Radar is now available as a free iPhone app that lets shoppers search and compare products, organize their searches, and set shopping alerts to receive notifications when prices drop or new products become available. Nextag Dealforce is a free, social shopping app for the iPhone that provides up-to-the-minute deals posted by local shoppers. Both apps are available through the iTunes store and Android Market.

Tip #4: Make money conversations fun – which will better engage your kids and avoid the eye rolls that tend to accompany these types of discussions.

I was compensated by Nextag to share these tips and my thoughts about their comparison shopping site. All opisnions and thoughts expressed are my own, as always.

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